Punisher Jaune: Road to Ruin
by EAST of HALO
Summary: A pseudo continuation/origin story of JcoftheCorn's The Punisher.Jaune Arc has been traveling from town to town on the hunt for the people responsible for Beacon's destruction and Pyrrha's,in the process has gained quit the noticeable reputation known as The PUNISHER.With the world now in chaos,can Jaune find any semblance of humanity left in himself.
1. Kingdom Gone

**Ok,found out that I'm so rusty at writing fanfic that I put in the wrong format. So for those that didn't read between the codes, here's the story.**

**Hi there folks, if you read the intro you should know this here is a Punisher fic in the world of RWBY. If you haven't read it and just clicked on the title, well glad I put it in the effort for something you ignored. -_-**

**Due to a lack of Punisher xover in RWBY fics, especially ones that don't suck cough(The Revenant)cough, I thought it would be cool to write one up, since I haven't written a fic in a long while and do a more serious story.**

**Things to know before reading: This was story was meant to be more of a love letter/pseudo-origin to JCoftheCorn's "The Punisher" so if you haven't read it I recommend it before reading this. It's not a direct sequel to his work, but it does inspire heavily on it (in fact it takes place months after chapter 7).**

**That said I took more of an artist approach to some things to explain how JC's Jaune along with adding different plot points to make Jaune more in line with the Punisher.**

**This should be without said, but this fic will have dark themes and graphic scenes as it draws inspiration from PunisherMax:Born.**

**RWBY copyright:RoosterTeeth**

**Punisher copyright: MARVEL comics**

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_A few yards away from a big wooden house in a clearing surrounded by wilderness, a small storage shed stands. In it a man sits besides his workbench fixing a fishing pole. Much like his home, the man has lived through good times and bad days, sheltered eight growing children with both soft and firm hands. Even now with the harsh hand of time dulling his once golden hair, much like his home, still remains as a symbol of strength and stability for his family._

_As continued his work, what could be considered a smaller version of the man walked to the shed. Taking notice of the child, the man smiled for it was his only son. "Hello Jaune what brings you here?" said the man._

_"Pa a kid in class keeps picking on me." said the boy. Yet the man paid no mind to this as he continued on with his fishing pole. "Pa can you help me?" The man then applied a wood finisher to the pole. "Pa I'm in trouble and need help! Pa did you hear me? Pa! "_

_The man turned his head "I hear you son, but I have troubles of my own." He began to look around the shed. "Nothing I have in this world is really good you know. My house is small, my job is small, my salary too." His eyes drifted toward his son and gave a short chuckle. "Even my son is small. So is my wife and when you get right down to it, I'm no giant myself." With his left hand, he picked up the fishing pole. "Everything around me is small and inferior, except this fishing rod." His eyes were on his son. "I myself wind it with best threads and coat it with the best lacquer from Anima."_

_He once again picked up the pole, to show his son and to admire the beauty of its craftsmanship. Putting it back down he continued on. "Nobody in town has a fishing pole like this. Not even Mr. Latimore down at the bank." A small spread across his face. "I'm so poor and shoddy...well without this pole I'd have nothing to set me apart. Nothing at all and it's why I love it so much."_

_"Do you love it more than you do with me?" Asked the boy._

_The man gave an amused chuckle. "Course I do. What is there about you that can give a man distinction? You're not unusual at all."_

_" Yes I am Pa"the boy replied, not sounding hurt by the remark. The man looked to him with a questioning gaze. "I may not be now, but I'm going to be."_

_The man stopped his work."Of course you are. You're going to make the world safe for justice aren't you?"_

_"What is justice?"_

_It could be seen on his face that man was searching for the answer. "Well I was never clear about it myself. It's got to do with young with young men killing each other I believe,while the old men have to keep the home fires burning."_

_"Can't the young men that as well?"_

_"Young men don't have homes, that's why they go kill each other."_

_The boy looked towards the ground. "When it's my turn, will want me to go?"_

_After a brief moment of thought, the man replied. "For justice, any man is willing to give his only begotten son." The man stood from his bench to kneel on one knee, staring into the eyes of his son. "I won't be here to stop it Jaune." He wrapped his arms around his son. "Put your arms around me. I need their warmth to keep the chill of death away. Please." But the boy didn't want to and broke from his father's embrace, running away to the wilderness. "Guess it always comes down to that...each man faces death by himself." [1]_

Quickly gasping after waking from his dream, Jaune Arc sits up from his bed and quickly scans his surrounding area then relaxes as he remembers the key details. Inside an abandoned storage depot with noticeable water damage and a pungent smell of mildew.

He spotted a slightly overweight man typing away at a computer and in the next room was a little faunus girl warming up canned beans. Seeing the white tiger girl, Jaune relaxed a bit knowing that there was no immediate danger. He rose up from his makeshift bed and walked toward the kitchen, greeting the girl with a soft good morning, he sat down on a lone chair with a can of beans and a cup of coffee. The portly man stopped his typing, noticing Jaune's presence, rolled his chair towards the table handing a sheet of paper to Jaune. Taking notice of the paper, Jaune rose a brow in uncertainty.

"This legit Micro?"

Scratching his unkempt light brown beard, Micro rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Yeah its legit. Spent all night making sure it wasn't some ambush." He gave a quick yawn and continued. "But all my sources say that the White Fang hiding in the communication tower. They're going to send out the supplies they stole from the town nearby."

Jaune thought about what the mission here was originally supposed to be bring power to the comms tower so that Micro could use the broadband and hack into secured White Fang intel. However, after hearing rumors about bandit attacks happening at the nearby villages. He sent Amy to spy and listen on the villagers to see if their rumors had any truth in them. To make a long story short, it turned out that the raiders were Fang members and with the layout of their work schedule, cordisy of Micro, it appears that they're hurrying to stock up on supplies due to many of their supply outposts being sacked.

Jaune smiled a little at the prospect, but the satisfaction soon left as he heavily thought on what would be the next course of action. After formulating the plans in his head, Jaune turned to the girl. "I want you to grab me a pistol with a silencer, an assault rifle, and two flash bang grenades from the armory. Need to be stealthy and light on my feet. I'll grab my knife and ammo from room."

With that, the girl gave a quick nod and left to complete her task. Jaune noticed a frown across Micro's pale face. Jaune can admit that despite Micro's poor care for his body's health, the man's skill with computers and info gathering was a major asset in getting a leg up against the Fang. However, Jaune knew that flattery wouldn't help him get out of the argument that was brewing.

"It's not like I'm going to let her tag along in the firefight." Jaune said to Micro, but hearing no reply he clicked his tongue. "Like I said before, her old man thought she could help me with fighting the Fang. So I might as well make her my gopher if I'm not letting her in the firefight."

After a brief moment of silence, Micro gave a reluctant sigh while shaking his head. "Yeah I know Jaune, you told me enough about how bad ass they are as a family of thieves." He poured himself a cup of coffee. "I don't want her pissing away her life before it even started. Lord knows we both screwed ourselves of a normal life."

Jaune stood up and started walking to his room, but stopped before he turned a corner. "Just make sure to stay out of my shit." He then left, leaving Micro to stand alone.

Once he walked into the worn down break room that has been his bed room for the past two weeks, Jaune searched in small file cabinet next to his cot. He only picked out two tactical knives, one for disposing of his target silently and the other to be attached on his boot for those special occasions. However, a small glimmer of red caught his attention. Picking it up, he found it to be a picture of his team of old team JNPR along with their sister team RWBY.

A wave of guilt and sorrow filled his heart as he stared at the picture, at the girl with red hair and green eyes. "Pyrrha…" Images of crumbling tower, waves of grim flooding into Beacon, the heat from a raging inferno, soft green eyes full of love and sorrow. Tender lips whimpering from the passion. The push over the edge into the suffocating metal coffin. The dizzy feeling of back down.

**The Fall.**

Jaune shook his head to clear away the thoughts. 'Not now...gotta stay focused.' He gently folded the picture, putting it away. With that he opens a rusted locker, staring at a pitch black piece of clothing. Quickly he covers himself in the dark fabric of his uniform, a far cry of the uniform in his Beacon days as it feels more comfortable. Wrapping the pants with a white utility belt and tuck the legs into high rise military boots, preventing any clumsy errors, a habit he has kicked long ago.

Taking a good look at himself in the mirror, taking notice of every distinguishable feature of his all black appearance. A large white skull spread across his chest, with the gun belt highlighting the skulls teeth. To any normal person the skull would come off as cartoonish, but with the reputation he has built it has become a fearsome symbol to all criminals that death has come for them and their punishment will soon follow. A final gift from her, the only person who ever believed in him overcoming life's harshness. Believing that this new shirt would make him feel tougher among his peers. Expressing her faith, commitment, and love for him.

He shook his end or else the waves of guilt and shame keep him down. The sound of metal being placed on a table thankfully draws him out of his thoughts and back into reality. Turning his head, he saw the girl layout the weapons he asked for across the table. He gave a quick nod with an automatic "good job". Inspecting the weapons one last time, Jaune loaded them up into a duffel bag grabbing a black ski mask, and head out the door to the tower to face the enemy within.

In the dead of the night, a successful mission as Jaune took off his mask to catch his breath and admire his handiwork. Though the girl's training wasn't much of boast in his basic skills in fighting large crowds, her teachings in stealth have put on par with Ren or Blake. Along with weapons he got from her father, his new skill in stealth enabled him to subdue half of the enemies in the tower without alerting the others. When most of the Fang gathered in one spot to investigate why the others weren't reporting. Jaune threw the dust grenades and quickly took advantage of their confusion mowing them down with an assault rifle and finished off any that still drew breath with his pistol. Within the hour all the Fang members died by his hands and the tower was his, luckily most were green behind the girls.

Now was long wait for Micro to hack into the Fang's servers and grabs as much info then see what they could use. Making sure that none of the bodies were playing possum (would that be racist?). He spotted a scroll on one of the bodies, still functional and with a steady reception, but a low battery. Thoughts of his father and the yearning for home flashed in his head. 'Need to make this quick'. His thumbs dial a number he knew too well and waited for someone to pick up on the other end. The ringing continued, adding more weight to his worries, until a faint feminine voice is heard and anxiety fades.

"Hello?" A familiar voice so sweet and strange picks up.

Swallowing his fears, Jaune happily spoke "Hi Mom". As expected he could hear tears and sniffling from the sturdy woman accompanied with a loud 'My baby boy!' Soon followed by the shrieks of happiness of his many sisters, all demanding to speak to him. Trying to maintain control of the few precious minutes he had left, he asked about the situation at home, which the from the slow responses and somber tone, never a good sign.

His mother, bless her soul, told him the harrowing news that the White Fang have been camping out a few miles away from the town, seeing smoke across the distance where homes used to be, rumors of them 'recruiting' any able body fanus boy near them whether they liked it or not, and now everyone being wrecked with fear.

With a deep breath of calmness, a skilled picked up to combat all manners of stress. "Don't worry I'm heading home. It'll take a few days, but if you and dad can keep everyone calm, I could get there and we can make a plan on what to do." There was no response. "Mom?"

Her voice came back, but noticeably shaky. "J-Jaune your father...it was a w-week ago, he had a heart attack…'sniff' your father's dead". A familiar hollow feeling took hold of him,as if the world stood still. He was about to respond, but found that the battery died. Leaving him alone with his thoughts.

After minutes of non-stop tension of jumping over firewalls, Micro was able to find a window into the White Fang servers gathering as much data as he could before the system rebooted and flushed him out. Despite the soreness in his hands, the cash grab of data was worth it. He stood up and began to walk to a room where he last saw Jaune head into, while trying to ignore the dead bodies that littered the floors and blood sprayed across the walls. Micro managed to find the room and saw him sitting on a chair, then told him of the accomplished mission. However, he could tell something was wrong with Jaune, but he didn't dig further on these thoughts as Jaune told him that they were moving out. Micro looked back to the room, shrugging his shoulders as he didn't see anything important and quickly ran to keep pace with Jaune. They both left the building leaving behind corpses and a crushed scroll on the ground.

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**I finished this chapter on Father's day and I was half across the otherside of the United States by myself. (._.)*mental paranoid screaming***

**Well this ends the first chapter of what was suppose to be a oneshot, why do I torture myself like this.**

**Hoped you folks enjoyed this, if you didn't do well there's four more on the way. Or you could just read all the other amazing Punisher Jaune fics.**

**Sidenote: To the eagle eyed readers or those who like easter eggs I'll make a footnote at the bottom describing the info regarding what the text with numbers are referring to.**

**This intro comes from the movie "Johnny Got His Gun" by Dalton Trumbo, which to any those unfamiliar with the movie, watch the music video for Metallica's "One". This is all in reference to the Netflix trailer for The Punisher.**


	2. Black & White

**Originally this chapter wasn't meant to be written, in fact the story as a whole was meant to be a one-shot, but when I was writing the rough draft I found it way too wordy. So when I decided that I should do multiple chapters I ran into a pacing issue, so I decided to focus a little on Micro and Amy's perspective on their situation.**

**RWBY copyright:RoosterTeeth**

**Punisher copyright: MARVEL comics**

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_Good evening, this Lisa Lavender with breaking news! krrrt Atlas military drones have been hacked and are wreaking havoc krrrt Beacon's Headmaster, Ozpin as of yet has not been found,leading many to suspect him to have been_ _**kill**__ed in the __**FALL**_ _krrrtIn local news, a dog named __**hero**_ _won the grand prize at the annual…krrrtI wish could tell you more import newskrrrt But we're on a __**ra**__tin__**g**_ _syst__**e**__m herekrrrtthe crooked politicians won't help you krrrtthe crime is only getting worse _

_krrrt you society created this cesspool with krrrt electing the corrupted krrrtallowed people to steal from others krrt turned your gaze from the muggings and the rapingskrrrt _

_He will __**never stop, **__he will find you, and he will deliver __**punishment.**_

_krrrt Well that ends tonight's story. We at the station wish you a goodnight and hope for you to tune in tomorrow. This is Lisa Lavender signing out.[1]_

Micro's P.O.V:

This sucks. This really fricken sucks. After two whole days of cleaning up that decrepit building and hours more setting up my computers, all pissed down the drain as Jaune, without telling me why, said that we were packing and leaving.

Having to haul all those computers and the supplies onto the tank was a pain. Or was it the 'battle van'?[2] I still need to ask him what's called. And the cherry on top this Sunday, Jaune ain't even telling me or Amy where we're heading to. I swear I'm really worried about that guy.

I caught him staring out into a t.v screen for over an hour. Thing was the t.v wasn't even on. He just sat there staring deep in thought at it, seeing something that I couldn't see.

I'm really worried about that guy.

I still can trace back to where everything went to Hell in a handbasket. Used to live in Vale, working with its central intelligence agency. My job would be to get a pool of info from all corners of Remnant and sort out what was considered important enough for further investigation. Wasn't the most demanding job nor the most exciting either, but it paid the bills and the alimony. That's why when I found a disk from General Ironwood meant for Beacon's headmaster, Ozpin, I felt a little adventurous to look inside. At first I thought it was a joke from someone at the office, but the further I read into it the more detailed and complex the plans became along with the gravity of the situation. As they were schematics for a fully functional machine meant to keep a dying Fall Maiden alive long enough to transfer her powers to another host.

It didn't take long for Ozpin to catch on what I did. I still don't know how he found out, it's not like told anyone about my dilemma, only ranting and raving to the birds that would land on the roof of my apartment. Either way, Ozpin made it clear that I was fired from my job and was put on extreme supervision, by declaring me dead and relocating me closer Beacon, to keep tabs on me. I least I didn't have to pay alimony or die, so that was a big plus.

When shit hit the fan at Beacon, I was wise enough to get the hell out of Dodge and ran straight to my nephew's home. Lived there for about a week till my nephew got into some trouble with the town's local mafia after a bad game of poker.

That's when Jaune happened to stop at the town and my whole world turned from being upside down to flying sideways in front of a semi truck. I heard the heard and read the stories of the mess he's been leaving White Fang (along with most of the local criminals of each city) and I knew that he be perfect for getting nephew out of his jam. So I managed to make contact with him by sending him a street C.A.M video of him killing some crime bosses at a poker game. Even sent him on little goose chase on where would we meet to discuss our situation while I would hide on a rooftop couples blocks away. However, I didn't expect a white tiger fanus girl to sneak up behind me and knock me out.

When I came to, I found myself tied naked to a chair with Jaune holding a towel and a bucket of water. He asked the usual questions when interrogating someone trying to contact a well known killer and when he didn't get an answer he wanted he would waterboard me. After what felt like days of non-stop torture, he stepped up on his turture methods by tricking me that he would melt away my flesh with a blowtorch, which afterwards turned to be a popicle. So I stopped talking about the problems I was in and spilled my guts out about my knowledge about Ozpin's Fall maiden.

To make a long story short, he managed to get rid of my problem, but to keep my nephew safe I had to leave with Jaune. Thus, I became a member of Jaune's _'_holy crusade to bring back law and order to the good people of Remnant'_,_ with my knowledge on computers being a valuable asset to him. I can't believe there would be a day that I would miss paying for alimony.

Traveling across Remnant with Blondie and girly has taught me a few things about the rumors that people made about the Punisher. Many say he's a brutal evil man hunting the poor fanus fighting for their rights that humanity as a whole owes them. And traveling with him for this long, I can say those rumors don't capture the darkness in his heart and the horrors he's willing to commit to take down any foe. With my many years in life, I have seen many faces and acts of evil, but I have never seen someone as brutal and enthralled with killing like Jaune Arc. He leads us into the dark corners of our world, the land of his enemies,scraping whatever shard of hope he still has left into hoping that this road will lead into one great huge battle.

Even his dedication to the lives of mine and Amy's is total for the mission at hand, not from _love_, that word does not belong with him. From that same determination to correct the tragic misstep into darkness our world has fallen into, he will go to whatever length and commit whatever sin to weed out that evil. For that I believe he created by whatever god there is, for the purpose of serving as the hand of vengeance and create a new breed of man that can live solely on conflict and blood.

Third person perspective:

After traveling hours across the great plains of Remnant, the tank finally found a place to park and make camp for the night, behind tall bushes off to the side of the main road by half a kilometer. Once the flames of the camp was steady, Jaune took it upon himself to patrol the surrounding area, leaving Micro and Amy to look after the camp.

While helping Amy cook the diner, beef stew and beans, Micro couldn't help with his mind to wander to the little girl. A growing tension could be felt in the air, with Micro trying not to look at the girl's presence and Amy becoming mildly irritated with the man's obvious body language.

The tension broke with the sound of a girl's voice. "You know you can just ask me whatever is on your mind, instead of just beating around the bush." Replied Amy, her eyes never leaving the pot of beans.

Slightly embarrassed for being caught by a little girl, Micro shifted a little and chuckled a little as he mentally prepared himself for how the conversation would carry. "I'm wondering how bad it would look on any 'normal' circumstance that a little girl is hangin' around with two known criminal men out in the middle of the woods would look." The girl turned her head towards him, confusion and unamusement clearly written on her face.

Taking notice of her demand for an answer, Micro dropped his shallow smile. "Look I know why you're here, Jaune told me the first week he 'recruited' me. You and your dad might be the greatest thieves in the freakin' world, but it doesn't change the fact that a girl your age shouldn't be playin' housekeep to a murderer."

If Amy was insulted by the statement she didn't show it as she continued to tend to the campfire. "Well that same murderer saved me and the lives of many others, you included. So you can say I owe him servitude".

Micro frowned a little at her answer. "I'm guessing that excuses everything then. Guess having your pops bartering you to Jaune was really shows how much you owe them". He would have continued his rant, but a soft growl from the white tiger girl warned him that he was straying from his main issue.

Still frustrated, she gave her argument. "I don't know why you're so upset or even have a reason to care." She stood up. "He's clearly strong enough to kill any enemy that comes across. He picks up the slack that the law can no longer provide, and sure as Hell the only hunter left strong enough to take down the White Fang"! Gaining back her breath she noticed Micro's eyes wide with shock. Feeling a little embarrassed for her little outburst, she quickly turned around to tend the fire".

Trying to understand her perspective for Jaune, Micro took a deep breath and sighed. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he spoke with a calm tone. "Look Amy...I can't understand how things went down with you and your pops. Heck I don't know if you would be better off staying with your pops." For a brief moment he stared towards her way, his gaze seemed to soften. "No child should be the position your in." Quickly he averted his eyes, combing through his hair with his fingers for comfort. His eyes grew serious "But don't ever put him on a pedestal. I know his type, crazier than any butcher you stolen from, thinks he's the only one that ever felt lost, and looking for blood than with us".

Amy crossed her arms, clearly not taking a like to Micro's statement. "Just because he kills criminals, it doesn't mean he's some kind of lunatic looking for thrills". She slowly walked towards Micro. "And before you say that old cliche 'who does the vigilante consider a bad guy' crap. I've been with him a lot longer than you and he's only killed criminals. The right kind of man for the World we live in now."

Micro scoffed as he stood up "Well doesn't that put me at ease." He scraped a spoonful of beans onto his plate. "You're still ignoring the big elephant in the room. That 'perfect' man for the job is a murderer." Eating the last spoonful of beans, he began to walk towards the vehicle. "The way I see it you and your dad just want some person to take out the Fang and Jaune is the only one crazy enough that fits the bill." He opened the hatch door. "I mean, what would be the point of your pops, a guy who was kicked out of the Fang, send you to teach a man with nothing to lose how be more of an effective killer".

He could see in Amy's eyes that a counter argument was forming, but quickly spoke up. "As for the pimps, killers, and every other thug he's killed, the ones you would have mentioned. You just want him to drag them out of their holes so can say 'those are the bad guys' and justice has been served. Because...you haven't figured it out there's no such thing".

With that said, Micro shut the door behind him, leaving Amy to tend to the flames.

Amy's point of view:

Being this far from the den, I can say that fathers view on humans being weak minded fools may hold strong. From what I've seen so, when a big enemy always come most chose to either hide away from or try to appease it, but whatever choice they make the young always get the short end of the stick. None choose to hold onto their power, only giving it up when all seems lost. Father always said that the Fang strayed away from the path when the Belladonnas chose to be passive when the other leaders chose to be more aggressive. And I've seen the fallout of their mistakes, with the Fang stooping themselves so low as to be nothing more than an army of animals rather than a conscious group.

As such, the world has reverted back to survival of the strong. Only one man so far has proven to be possibly the strongest person who use fear to set the world at ease. And since the first and most important law of everything is survival of the fittest, I know that he is not of evil.

Because the world has gone to Hell and we need a man like him to lead us through it, and what that says about us is unthinkable. Because of the look he has in his eyes, the one that's always there. And worst of all,because I know the pain and the blood he spilled is his idea of helping or else this crusade would be for nothing.

For this I trust Jaune Arc.

For this I believe in the Punisher.

Third person perspective

It was late in the night when Jaune returned to the campsite. Spending a great deal scouting ahead the trail, he can confirm that the nearby White Fang have been active recently, with a temp base set up to steal as many resources and 'recruit' as many loyal young fanus boys to the cause and kill any human sympathizers. He is sure that are possibly more further down the road ahead, but he still has a hint of satisfaction knowing that base will have a rude awakening to their vehicles exploding and their commander dead by dawn.

Noticing Amy close to falling asleep, he relieved of her duty and allowed to take her place in keeping watch. There he listed to the silence of the night surrounded by the unseen enemies lurking in the night. Only the warmth of the fire gave him comfort and his lonely thoughts to keep him company throughout the night.

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**[1] Elements of the System of a Down's, 'Sugar', and Punisher Max 'Black is White, Up is Down'. **

**[2] A reference to JCoftheCorn's 'The Punisher'.**


End file.
